


back from the dead

by laykay



Category: The Wilds (TV 2020)
Genre: Becca's not really dead but Nora is, F/F, Faked Death, I really don't have a clue how to tag this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-19 10:09:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29997780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laykay/pseuds/laykay
Summary: Shelby moves to Los Angeles with the rest of the girls and runs into a literal ghost from her past, except she's not a ghost at all.
Relationships: Shelby Goodkind & Becca Gilroy, Shelby Goodkind/Toni Shalifoe
Comments: 15
Kudos: 105





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Shout out to @kms753 on tumblr for giving me this idea, hope you enjoy my take on it!

“Where is the waitress?”

Shelby looked up from her menu, across the circular booth to where Fatin was sitting. Fatin’s menu was closed in front of her, instead she was looking at the smaller drink menu.

“We just sat down, like, thirty seconds ago,” Dot reminded her.

“Yeah and I want a drink,” Fatin said with a shrug.

“When don’t you?” Leah muttered.

“They’re gonna spit in your food,” Toni told her without looking up from her menu, one arm around the booth behind Shelby.

“Just because you did that, doesn’t mean everyone does,” Martha said with a laugh.

“Look, I’m not being difficult,” Fatin insisted. “It’s been forever since I’ve had a good dirty margarita and I’ve been looking forward to this all week.”

Rachel scoffed. “I hope for the bartender’s sake, they know what they’re doing.”

A dark-haired woman in a white button up stopped a table away from theirs, making Fatin groan as she took the other party’s order. “Relax, she’ll be here soon,” Shelby said.

Something about the waitress’s voice caught Shelby’s attention, there was a familiar drawl that she’d slip in and out of as she introduced herself and took the order, almost as if she were trying to train herself to speak without it. The woman was from Texas, Shelby could tell, no matter how much she tried to hide it.

Shelby decided she would ask where in Texas she was from, maybe ask what brought her to Los Angeles, hoping to counteract Fatin’s bad mood with some polite conversation, maybe she could save their table from being the one that the servers dreaded. She glanced at Fatin, who was finally looking at the food menu then looked back to the waitress as she turned, Shelby’s breath caught in her throat.

She didn’t notice Shelby, but Shelby recognized the eyes immediately, the same light blue she’d so easily let herself get lost in all those years ago. She tuned the conversation at the table out, she could almost feel her heart skip when the waitress smiled, a smile she’d know anywhere.

She shook herself when the woman turned towards their table. “I have to go to the bathroom,” Shelby quickly announced. “Babe, will you order for me?” she asked Toni, not waiting for an answer before she stood and half-ran towards the restrooms.

Before the rest of the group could question Shelby’s behavior, the waitress stopped at their table. “Hey, looks like we’ve got ourselves a girls’ night over here. My name’s Becca, I’ll be your server tonight. Are y’all ready to order?”

\-----

“She hasn't changed a bit,” Shelby told Toni as they sat on the couch in their apartment. “Don’t you think so?”

Shelby hadn’t been as friendly as she’d planned, once Becca returned to deliver their food, she could barely offer her more than a cursory glance as the pasta dish Toni had ordered for her was placed in front of her. Becca came back for their desert order, Shelby was still picking at her pasta, refusing to look at her.

Even when Becca addressed her directly, asking if everything was okay with the meal she’d barely touched, Shelby only managed to nod and mumble that she wasn’t feeling well. It was at that point Toni offered to take her home, Shelby hadn’t said a word until Toni closed the apartment door behind them.

Toni shrugged her shoulders. “I mean, I’ve only seen pictures, but I guess so. You know they say everyone’s got a twin, maybe that was hers.”

“With the same name?”

“Becca’s a common name.” Toni carefully took Shelby’s hand, resting on her knee. “And… you know… she’s dead,” she said carefully. “It’s been, what, eight years? And you really didn’t look at her, did you?”

Shelby pulled her hand free, shooting a glare at Toni. “I know what I saw!”

“I know you think…” Toni started but Shelby cut her off.

“I don’t _think_ I saw her, Toni.” Shelby pushed herself off the couch and walked across the room, turning to face Toni with her arms crossed. “I did see her.”

“Okay,” Toni said slowly, carefully. She started to stand then sat again, deciding to give Shelby space. “Maybe I should give your therapist a call and she can…”

“I don’t need to talk to my therapist. I’m not having a psychotic break or something.” She shook her head and let out a humorless laugh when Toni looked down at her lap, not responding. “You think that’s what’s happening, you think I’m crazy?”

“I don’t think you’re crazy. I think… I think maybe it’s worth looking into if you need to change up your meds.”

“I don’t need some new fucking medication, Toni. I need you to be on my side.”

“I am,” Toni told her, standing up slowly. “I am always on your side, that’s why I think… that’s why I’m worried. What would you do if I said I saw Nora?”

“Jesus Christ, this isn’t some Sixth Sense, ‘I see dead people’ bullshit, okay? I wasn’t imagining things. She was real, she was there, and… and…” Shelby shook her head, rubbing her eyes with her thumb and pointer finger as her eyes started to water.

“And what?”

“And I remembered her funeral, I remembered her being buried and putting flowers at her grave.”

“Did you ever like… see her?”

Shelby shook her head. “It was a closed casket.”

“Maybe this is your way of getting closure or something,” Toni suggested, taking a hesitant step towards Shelby. “You know, getting to see her one last time, maybe you can finally forgive yourself because this is like a message that your Becca is okay, wherever she is.”

“It was her,” Shelby insisted again.

“I know,” Toni said softly, Shelby could tell Toni had wanted to say more, she could see it in her eyes. _I know you think it was her,_ Toni’s voice finished the sentence in her head. “You’re okay,” Toni told her, finally coming close enough to hold her. “It’s okay. We never have to go back to that restaurant again, if seeing that waitress is too much for you, we’ll never go there again.”

Shelby almost laughed at that. “I don’t know, Fatin really liked their margaritas.”

“Why don’t you go take a shower?” Toni suggested, desperate for a subject change. “That always calms you down after a bad day.” Shelby nodded then looked at the door when there was a knock. “Go ahead,” Toni told her. “I’ll get rid of whoever it is and be in soon.”

“Okay,” Shelby said softly, kissing Toni quickly before she walked to their bathroom. Toni waited until she heard the water turn on before she answered the door and saw Dot.

“Where’s Shelby?” she asked instantly.

“Just jumped in the shower. Dude, that waitress that looked like Becca really messed with her head.”

“Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about that,” Dot said slowly. “Honestly, I really didn’t know Becca that well but I did know of her. T, that wasn’t just someone who looked kind of like someone I went to high school with. That was definitely Becca fucking Gilroy.”


	2. Chapter 2

Shelby sat in her car in the parking lot of the restaurant where Becca worked. Instead of heading straight home as she normally did after a day of dealing with a classroom of third graders, she’d gone the opposite direction, driving to the restaurant without really giving thought to where she was going. 

She wasn’t sure what she was doing there, she had no idea if Becca was even working and if she was, it could be hours before her shift was over and if someone noticed her sitting outside staring at the building, she knew it would be only a matter of time before the cops got called.

Her phone beeped, she picked it up from the seat next to her and she saw a new message from Toni, asking where she was. She glanced at the clock on her dashboard, with no traffic it would take her about half an hour to get to the apartment. She could leave the parking lot and go home, tell Toni that she had gotten stuck in traffic and they could enjoy what was left of their night.

Instead, she opened the messaging app to respond to her: _Sorry, caught up at work. Might be a while._ She sent the message then waited, watching as it got marked read and quickly followed by two letters: _OK_.

She was happy Toni couldn’t see her, she’d always been able to tell when she was lying, luckily she knew that Toni wouldn’t question her when she finally got home. Not that Toni would have anything to be angry about if she’d told her the truth.

At the same time though, she was lying to her about seeing another woman, one who she’d been in love with long before she’d met Toni. Shelby didn’t really want to talk to Becca though, she just wanted to see her. 

She wasn’t sure if she wanted answers, if she was even entitled to them, but the questions still swirled around in her mind: _What happened? How did you do this? Why did you do this? How could you do that to your family? How could you do that to me?_ She thought about the grave she’d visited, the casket she now knew was empty that she’d cried over.

Becca could have easily reached out at some point. She shook her head, thinking about how egotistical she would sound if she’d said that out loud, assuming Becca knew that she’d relocated to Los Angeles. Her face had been on the news enough three years ago, when their case against Gretchen finally settled, but that didn’t mean Becca had seen any of the reports.

She glanced at her phone again, now wondering what she was even doing sitting in that parking lot in the first place, waiting for someone who had literally ghosted her for years. Toni was still expecting her, she knew she’d start to worry soon, if she wasn’t already.

Shelby reached down to turn the car on then she saw Becca walking out of the restaurant, zipping up the dark hoodie she wore. Shelby slid down a bit in her seat even though Becca didn’t even glance in her direction as she walked to her own car.

Before she could stop herself, Shelby jumped out of the car. “Becca,” she called, making Becca pause and look around for the voice that called her. Shelby walked out from between the cars, Becca frowned a bit as her eyebrows furrowed.

“Yeah?” she finally asked.

“I’m… sorry, do you not remember me?”

Becca started to shake her head before she spoke. “Oh, you were here the other night. With the dirty margarita girl.”

“No. Well, yes, but…” Shelby shook her head, she hadn’t thought this through. “Becca, come on. We grew up together. We were best friends.”

Becca shook her head again, shrugging. “I think you’ve got the wrong person.”

“No. No, I don’t. Dot even recognized you. Dorothy Campbell, from Fort Travis High School. You remember her, right?”

Becca looked at Shelby, her eyes meeting hers for a fraction of a second before she swallowed hard and looked away. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on here but you’ve got the wrong person.”

“Becca, please. Just tell me what’s going on,” Shelby begged, taking another step towards her. “I’m not mad at you. I just… I just want to know if you’re okay.”

“Nothing is going on. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Shelby reached out to grab Becca’s arm without thinking, pulling her back as she tried to leave again. “Please,” Shelby said again, her voice breaking. “Just tell me why.”

“You need to stay away from me,” she told her, her voice slipping back into her Texas accent before she could catch herself. She glanced around as if she was expecting someone to jump out of a bush.

“What? What does that even mean?”

“You can’t be here, Shelby,” Becca said through gritted teeth. Shelby’s breath caught at the acknowledgment that Becca remembered her but Becca’s face didn’t change, her jaw set. “Leave me alone.”

“What’s going on?” Shelby demanded, she put a hand on Becca’s arm again, this time an attempt to comfort her. “Tell me, maybe I can help you.”

“If you really want to help, then you need to forget you saw me.” Becca stepped away from Shelby, turning to get into her car. Shelby stepped away as Becca backed out of the space, not looking at her as she left the parking lot.

\-----

Shelby was almost four hours late when she finally opened the door to her apartment, Toni instantly jumped up from the couch. “Where were you? You were working this whole time?”

Shelby started to nod then bit the inside of her cheek. She never worked hours after the school day ended, if she had homework look over or tests to grade, she’d bring it home so she wouldn’t spend the entire night in her classroom. Even if Toni believed that she’d gotten caught up going over paperwork, it wouldn’t explain her red eyes after she’d spent most of the drive back crying.

Before Shelby could decide what to tell her, Toni spoke. “If you’re working this late, maybe you’re being a little hard on the kids. They are only in third grade, you know.” Shelby glanced at her, long enough for Toni to notice her eyes and step over to her, before she shook her head, looking away from her again. “Hey,” Toni said softly, brushing a strand of hair behind Shelby’s ear. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Shelby told her. She forced herself to smile, even though she could feel every old wound she managed to stitch shut over the years being torn open again. “It’s been a long day. I’m just tired.”

Toni kissed her cheek softly. “You’ve been through a lot these last few days, maybe you should try to take it easy.”

“You have no idea,” Shelby muttered then shook her head, keeping that same fake pageant smile in place. “I’ll give it a shot.”

Toni didn’t speak for a moment, her eyes dropping away from Shelby. “You missed dinner, I ordered Chinese. There’s leftovers on the counter if you want some or did you stop somewhere to eat on the way home?”

Shelby shook her head. “No, I didn’t stop anywhere,” she said whispered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before anyone gets concerned about Toni and Shelby, they're endgame but there's gonna be a few Becca shaped bumps in the road.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So now that it's been three chapters in three days, I have admit that my upload schedule for this probably isn't going to keep at this rate. I just happened to start this on a long weekend, that's coming to a close now.

Shelby shifted in bed next to Toni, turning from her side onto her back. She turned her head to look at Toni, who was still asleep on her side, curled against Shelby, her hair falling into her face. Shelby reached over, softly brushing her hair back before Toni let out a low whine and turned away from her, tugging the blanket that had been down around her waist to her shoulders.

Shelby couldn’t help smiling, Toni had hated California when they’d first left Minnesota to join the rest of the group, it was always too hot for her no matter what the temperature was. It didn’t take long, though, before she admitted to preferring winters in Los Angeles to having to dig their cars out of the foot of snow that would fall overnight. Still, Toni would never admit to sleeping with the covers tight around her, Shelby suspected she would break her phone if she took a picture as proof.

She leaned over to kiss Toni’s head softly before she got out of bed, slipping on an old t-shirt of Toni’s before she left the room and walked to the couch, picking up her computer as she sat, opening it on her lap. She bit her lip, glancing quickly over her shoulder before she turned back to her computer, the cursor blinking on the search engine before she finally typed in two words and hit enter.

She wasn’t entirely sure what she’d expected to see in the search results for Becca Gilroy, other than several social media links. She clicked quickly through the profiles, even though she already knew that none of them would be the one she was looking for. Becca had never been a fan of social media and wouldn’t have a profile, especially when there was clearly someone she didn’t want finding her.

She clicked the search bar again, adding Los Angeles to her earlier search, only partial matches came up. She then deleted Los Angeles, putting Fort Travis after Becca’s name. This time, Shelby expected the links to her obituary.

She selected the first link, she remembered reading it years earlier. _Becca Gilroy, 16 of Fort Travis, died unexpectedly Saturday afternoon. Becca will be deeply missed by family and friends…_ Shelby skimmed over the names of Becca’s relatives, her mother and stepfather, her “brother” Brian, aunts and uncles, the grandmother that had outlived her. Shelby shook that thought from her head, her grandmother hadn’t outlived her. She wondered if any of the family members listed knew the truth.

Questions swirled around in her mind, answers to which she knew wouldn’t be found in a Google search. She heard Becca’s voice in her head, telling her to leave her alone, that she needed to forget seeing her. She wondered what or who Becca was so scared of, what had she spent the last eight years running from, what she’d gotten herself into that had her faking her own death and moving to the other side of the country.

“What are you doing?” Toni asked from behind her.

Shelby jumped, quickly closing the browser before turning to look at Toni, smiling when she saw she hadn’t bothered to put on any clothes. “Nothing,” she said simply.

Toni laughed softly, moving to sit next to Shelby. “Sure it was nothing, that’s why you hid everything soon as you heard me. Was it porn?” she teased.

Shelby chuckled and shook her head. “Of course not. It’s just nothing important.” She closed her computer and moved it to the coffee table. Her eyes scanned over Toni’s body before leaning over to kiss her, pressing her back until she was laying underneath her on the couch.

She felt Toni’s hands tugging at the shirt she wore and she sat up a bit, raising her arms so Toni could pull it off before she moved back over top of her, kissing her deeply.

\-----

Shelby let out a content sigh as she rested her head against Toni’s chest, listening to the steady heartbeat as Toni’s fingers moved along the length of her spine. “You know, I wouldn’t be mad,” Toni suddenly said.

Shelby lifted her head to look at her, frowning a bit. “What?”

“If you were looking at porn,” Toni clarified. “I wouldn’t be mad. Especially if it caused that.”

Shelby rolled her eyes. “I wasn’t. I just realized how hot my girlfriend is.”

Toni chuckled softly, her fingers still moving against Shelby’s back. “Oh, really? You just realized that?” she asked, her voice teasing.

“Yep,” Shelby told her with a laugh as she rested her head back against Toni’s chest.

“You’re just not normally so… carnal.”

Shelby sunk down a bit against Toni’s body, now feeling a little self-conscious. “Well, is that a bad thing?”

“No,” Toni told her instantly. “No, of course not. Trust me, I don’t mind,” she assured her with a small smile. “I guess I just… I’m just wondering what brought that on.”

Shelby let out a breath. “It’s just been a long week, you know? I feel like I’ve been in a dream and I guess I just wanted to be close to you, feel something real.” She glanced at Toni then shook her head. “It’s silly.”

“Hey, no. No, it’s not,” Toni said softly, brushing Shelby’s hair out of her eyes. “You’re allowed to feel things. You just found out that you’d been lied to for years and your friend is alive. I think that would send anyone into a tailspin.”

“Yeah,” Shelby whispered. She still hadn’t told Toni that she’d lied about working late and gone to see Becca, that she suspected she was in some kind of trouble. She didn’t know how to even start that conversation. 

She knew Toni would tell her to leave it, that she didn’t need to be involved, that it could be dangerous, and that whatever Becca had gotten herself into, it wasn’t Shelby’s responsibility to pull her out. She didn’t need Toni to tell her all that, she’d already told herself several times. 

“I get it,” Toni said softly, pulling Shelby out of her thoughts. “I mean, I don’t, not really. I can’t imagine how you’ve been feeling, but I get wanting answers you’ll never get.”

“You have no idea,” Shelby muttered. “I don’t think I want to talk about it.”

“Okay,” Toni said, kissing Shelby quickly. “We don’t need to. We can talk about whatever you want. Or we can not talk at all,” she suggested, raising her eyebrows.

Shelby chuckled softly, moving to lean her forehead against Toni’s. “Can we just go back to bed? I feel like I haven’t slept in days.”

“We can do that.” Toni waited for Shelby to stand first then took her hand as she stood before leading her back to the bedroom then laying down next to her, turning so that when were facing each other. “You’d tell me if you weren’t okay, right? Like, if something else was going on.”

Shelby took Toni’s hand again, looking down as she linked their fingers together. Whatever problems Becca was having, she couldn’t drag Toni into it. “Of course I would,” she said, keeping her eyes down.


	4. Chapter 4

Shelby went back to the Becca’s restaurant, generally she hated it when Toni had a project at the engineering firm where she worked that took up her weekends, but she wouldn’t need to worry about her questioning her as long as she was back home before Toni. 

This time, instead of sitting in her car, she went inside and went to the hostess station. “Could you tell me if Becca Gil-” she started but cut herself off, realizing she might not be using the last name Gilroy anymore. “Becca. Is Becca working today?” she asked, hoping there was only one Becca that worked there.

The hostess shook her head. “Sorry, I can’t give away employee information.”

“Right. Of course. I understand.” She bit the inside of her cheek, then smiled at the hostess as she shook her head, reverting back to the times she’d gotten herself out of a messy situation with a smile. “I just… I was here the other day with my friends and I recognized her from high school, we actually graduated together and I just couldn’t believe it and I think I might have come off a bit rude,” she said smoothly. “I mean, the fact that we both moved to LA was just… a shock. Big city, small world, I guess. So I thought I’d stop in to, you know, apologize and maybe see if she wanted to go get coffee or something to catch up.”

The hostess’ eyes narrowed at Shelby. “Where did you go to high school?”

Shelby started to answer but quickly stopped herself, realizing this woman might know whatever backstory Becca had created for herself and that might not involve Fort Travis. She swallowed hard, hoping her own story didn’t conflict anything. “Oh, it’s this tiny little school in Texas no one’s ever heard of,” she said, hoping that being vague would work in her favor.

The hostess looked Shelby over and she briefly worried that she was about to call her manager over and have her thrown out. “Just you for lunch?” she finally asked.

“Excuse me?” Shelby asked.

“We’re still serving lunch,” she clarified. “Table for one?”

Shelby blinked, a little taken aback. “Yeah. Yes, thank you.”

The hostess picked up a menu. “This way, please.” She led Shelby into the dining area to a small table, placing the menu in front of the seat that she’d pulled out for Shelby. “Your waitress will be right with you,” she said, walking away as Shelby sat.

She saw Becca at another table, smiling as she spoke to the family sitting in a nearby booth. When she turned to Shelby’s table, the smile quickly disappeared and her eyes shifted quickly around the restaurant before taking a breath and walking over to her.

“I thought I told you not to come here,” Becca said, her voice low as she pulled her order pad and pen out of her apron pocket.

“I had to,” Shelby told her. “I’m worried.”

“Don’t be,” Becca said simply. “What can I get you to drink?”

“Water’s fine.”

Becca nodded. “Okay, I’ll right back with that.”

“Becca,” Shelby started but Becca had already turned away.

Shelby glanced at the menu in front of her, letting out a breath. She wasn’t particularly hungry even though she’d hardly eaten breakfast that morning.

Becca returned, putting a glass of water on the table in front of Shelby. “Are you ready to order or do you need a minute?”

“I’m having some trouble deciding,” Shelby told her, trying to stall before she ran off again. “Is there anything you recommend?”

“Well, we’ve got our soup of the day but I don’t really recommend it.”

Shelby’s eyebrows furrowed. “Why not?”

“Because it’s clam chowder,” Becca told her. 

Shelby couldn’t help smiling at that. “You remember.”

“I learned to use an EpiPen for you. You don’t forget that.” She let out a breath then glanced around quickly before leaning forward against the table. “What are you doing here, Shelby?” she whispered.

“I’m here to eat. I thought that’s what people did at restaurants.”

Becca shook her head. “What are you doing in Los Angeles?”

“I live here. I have for three years.”

“Jesus,” Becca said under her breath before glancing around again. 

“Can we talk, Becs?” Shelby asked softly. “Please.”

“I’m working. Speaking of working, are you gonna order? Cause if not, I have other tables.”

“Just a cheeseburger’s fine, doesn’t matter what’s on it,” Shelby told her, handing Becca the menu but tightening her grip slightly when Becca tried to leave. “Just one question, are you in some kinda trouble?”

Becca almost laughed. “Not technically.” She pulled the menu free from Shelby’s grasp. “I’ll be back soon,” she told her before she walked away.

Shelby released a breath, sipping her water as her other hand went to the cross necklace she still wore, twisting it between her fingers. She checked her phone even though she knew Toni had a deadline looming over her and was too busy to talk, she tucked her phone back into her pocket.

“You still do that?” Becca asked as she returned with Shelby’s burger, placing it in front of her then motioning to her necklace.

Shelby chuckled softly and let her hand fall away from her necklace. “Oh, yeah. My girlfriend used to get worried that I’d twist it so hard I’d break it and we’d need to buy a new one.” She saw Becca’s eyebrows raise, smiling a bit when Shelby mentioned her girlfriend but Shelby shook her head. “Can you please, just tell me if you’re okay?”

“You don’t need to worry about me.”

Shelby frowned. “That doesn’t really answer the question.”

“I’ve got other tables,” Becca told her before she turned away.

Shelby turned to watch her leave again then let out a breath before she started eating silently.

Becca didn’t come back to Shelby’s table until she was done with her burger. “Is there anything else I can get you or are you ready for your check?”

“Just the check is fine,” Shelby muttered, not meeting Becca’s eyes. She put the check folder on the table, telling Shelby to take her time before leaving again.

Shelby opened the small leather folder to check what she owed then got her wallet out of her purse, thankful that she had enough cash on her to pay her bill and leave Becca a nice tip, she wouldn’t need to wait for Becca to run her credit card. She quickly glanced around to see where Becca was, then pulled the sales slip free from its pocket when she didn’t see her. She hesitated a moment, moving the pen Becca had left on the table between her fingers, then wrote her phone number quickly on the bottom of the paper before tucking it into the back of the folder.

She stood slowly, pulling her purse onto her shoulder, keeping her head down as she turned to leave.

\-----

Toni was too exhausted when she finally got home to do more than sit on the couch with Shelby and turn on a movie, even then she fell asleep against Shelby’s shoulder fifteen minutes into it, though Shelby wasn’t sure if that was because of her long day at work or the fact the romcoms easily put her to sleep.

She thought about waking Toni up and going to bed, but decided to let her sleep while she watched the movie. She put her arm around her, kissing the top of her head quickly as she leaned against the back of the couch. She couldn’t help smiling when Toni grumbled in her sleep, Shelby only managed to make out the words, “quit it,” before her arm came around Shelby’s stomach, pinning her in place.

About halfway through the movie, Toni was laying across Shelby’s lap when her phone beeped. Shelby reached for it, careful not to disturb Toni as she looked at the message on her screen from an unknown number.

_You don’t need to worry about me._

Shelby frowned at the message then sent back a single word: _Becca?_

She watched her phone until the word _yeah_ appeared on her screen. She started to type back, asking what was going on, then quickly stopping and deleting when when three dots appeared at the bottom of her screen. _We can talk sometime just not when I’m working._

Shelby started to respond when Toni let out a short whine. “If that’s Fatin and she needs a ride home, let Leah handle it,” she mumbled, not opening her eyes.

Shelby laughed softly. “It’s not Fatin.”

“Let Leah handle it anyway.”

“It’s nothing,” she assured her, putting one hand against Toni’s back as she quickly typed _when?_ and sent it to Becca before putting her phone face down on the arm of the couch.


End file.
